Chapter 54 - Turning the tide (2/2)

- ”My apologies, Master”- said C3PO and Leia noticed the different tone he was using and she knew something was not right- ”You told me to inform you of any change in Phindar...”

- ”Yes, 3PO, Any news about the battle?”- asked Leia hoping everything went well.

- ”That is the problem, Master”- said 3PO who seemed to be panicking- ”there is nothing to report... at exactly 5 minutes ago, all transmissions and communications in the area have ceased and there is no way to get any news being an official or unofficial means.”

- ”How is that even possible?”- said Mara who had never heard of the blockade of communications in such scale- ”The quantity of resources necessary to block even the underworld is just unthinkable... ”

- ”It would be extremely difficult”- said Phasma who shared the surprise of such maneuver- ”However, the First Order had been collecting favors for many years and it seems they are collecting them now.”

- ”Are you sure you dont know more?”- said Finn who knew that Phasma was hiding things from them.

- ”Only suppositions...”- said Phasma with a tone that expressed absolute honesty- ”since I'm in this ship now, it would be unwise to hide things, wouldn't it?”

- ”Please share what you suppose with us”- said Leia who was also trying to connect with Admiral Ackbar using a super secret line of commucation, but she had been unable to connect with the Mon Calamari veteran.

- ”Since the beginning it was very suspicious for everyone that the First Order would attack a planet with no importance like Phindar which was also so deep into the New Republic territory”- said Phasma sharing the knowledge she had- ”It was even more strange when we were told that Kylo Ren himself was going to lead the attack.

- ”We also did not understand such move”- said Leia who had been extremely confused by the attack on a planet that had no strategic importance- ”Many made the conclusion that the objective was to send a message to all planets allied with us that the Republic was a unable to defend them.”

- ”It would still be too much a waste of resources”- said Phasma who started to contemplate deeply into the reasons for such attack and the reason of why she, being a high rank officer, was left in the dark about it- ”It would only make sense if there were something powerful enough to tilt the battle and make sufficient damage to the republic.

- ”Like another Death Star?”- said Mara even though her face showed lots of doubt.

- ”Theres no way the First Order has the resources to do that”- said Phasma dismissing the possibility- ”Only the Empire had such capacity since it has absolute control of all the galaxy.”

- ”It seems you don't know a lot although you were a captain”- said Celina looking at Phasma with suspicion.

- ”Does a captain of the land forces in the New Reoublic know everything about the secrets of the Air Force?”- asked Phasma as if she were speaking to an ignorant child- ”If so, I think I made a huge mistake switching sides...”

- ”Maybe they planned a big scale ambush”- said Finn who started to analyze the situation from a strategic position- ”gather all possible Republic forces to try to destry as much as possible...”

- ”The First Order would still suffer massive loses. Not worth it”- said Phasma and then one idea crossed her mind and looked at Leia- ”unless... the big fleet were not from the First Order...”

Leia looked at Phasma in horror and she immediately thought of a terrible possibility which had been taken in consideration until then and which sent horrible tremors to her spine.

- ”3PO establish communications with the Centrist and Populist governments immediately!”- said Leia with distress-

- ”Centrist government is ready to receive your transmission”- said 3PO with his typical calm voice- ”Populist government seemed to be not ready yet... what is more, it seems they have cut off all communications since the beginning of the operation.”

- ”We have to return immediately!”- shouted Leia making the pilot of the transporter increase the speed- ”Start the transmission with the Centrist representative.”

- ”At once, Master”- said 3PO.

- ”I hope you weren't fool enough to do this, Amilyn...”- thought Leia already preparing for the worst.

(...)

Phindar Orbit - New republic Flag ship Galactic Voyager

- ”Admiral, the enemy seems to be doing some maneuvers”- informed an officer.

- ”Any news of the Populist reinforcements?”- asked Ackbar who had not heard of the original faction of Supreme Chancellor Leia since the beginning of the operations.

- ”No sir”- said the officer and he sent the transmission to contact them once again to be met with silence- ”the Centrist forces have presented formal complaints against them.”

Ackbar started to have a very nasty gut feeling and decided to investigate a little more about this.

- ”Contact our agents in the Populist side and get information about their movements”- ordered Ackbar.

- ”Admiral, the enemy is starting to move against our ship”- informed another officer- ”All remaining Death Stars have started to separate and are moving to different ships in our forces”

- ”What?”- Ackbar could not understand what Hux was planning since this move could only be called suicide- ”Surround the enemy ships and make them fall!”

Ackbar's years of experience were shouting danger and so he decisevely gave the orders to destroy the enemy before they could do whatever thing they were planning.

- ”Sir, emergency transmission from one of our agents”

- ”Transmit it”- said Ackbar hoping they dismissed any potential danger.

- ”Populist fleets left their hangars since yesterday”- said the person in the transmission- However, the route they took was not Phindar but the capitals of different Centrist planets... I repeat...”

He started to see what the enemy had been planning all his time, but before he had time to ȧssimilate what was happening an alarm sounded and he received another bad piece of information.

- ”Massive sigal coming from hyperspace, Admiral”- informed the officer closest to him.

- ”A fleet?”- asked Ackbar wondering if the Populists had decided to come and support them even though he knew by now that if they had come it would not be to support them.

- ”By the size it seemed to be a small one but this makes no sense”- said the officer still trying to understand what he was seeing.

- ”No time. Have all fleets be ready”- ordered Ackbar not even doubting to put those traitors in their place if they dared to backstab them- ”no matter what arrives, have all the ships ready to fire at my order.”

Even though he expected to see an enemy fleet, Ackbar simply could not have predicted the thing that had appeared from Hyperspace and that was now covering a good part of the battlefield.

- ”What is that?”- said his second in command looking at the massive thing in front of them with horror- ”what the hell is that?”

It was not a fleet, but one single ship. However, calling it a ship may not be correct since its massive size could only be described as monstrous. Ackbar calculated that it was at least seven or eight Star Destroyers long.

- ”Make a scan and send the data to the New Reopublic!”- said Ackbar knowing that the central government must be informed.

- ”We can't do any transmissions, Admiral”- said the officer with a confused expression- ”All communications in the area have been blocked”

- ”How is that even possible?”- said Ackbar not understanding how the communications even among his forces could be ceased- ”Change the communicaiton line...”

- ”We still can't send or receive any communications”- said the officer with an expression of absolute shock.

Ackbar was trying to think in any kind of weapon that could cut off all communications in such a vast area and he could not think on anything which made the new battleship in front of them even more dangerous.

- ”Have our forces divide and keep in check the other Star Destroyers”- ordered Ackbar recovering from his shock- the rest of the forces will attack the new enemy ship. Have all bomber teams focu on it and make it fall!”

The massive ship started to shine all over its surfaced with electricity which seemed to run all over it and then it exploded in a humongous explosion.

- ”EMP attack detected!”- informed the officer

- ”What are they thinking?”

EMPs were certainly powerful but modern technology had made engineers create safeguards against these kind of attacks to save the main parts of the ships. Such attack would definitely not make any...

- ”Damage done to the instruments!”- said the officer as Ackbar saw how many of the instruments in front of him shut down in seconds.

- ”What?”- Admiral Ackbar saw in disbelief as his ship, which was considered the top of the Mon Calamari engineering and technology stopped working and all was covered in darkness- ”Activate secondary systems, give priority to life support!”

- ”Impossible to activate remotely!”- informed the officer shouting- ”Personnel has been sent to the main system but they will arrive there in 3 minutes”

- ”Everybody use emergency equipment H-98!”- shouted Ackbar taking a box under his own chair which contained some pills and oxygen tanks

However, before he cou ld use them, he saw how the massive ship and the Star Destroyers which had been on the defensive a minute ago started to shoot at the Republic ships mercilessly. Even though their battleships were sturdy, the damage was very heavy. At the same time, the enemy TIE fighters were also eliminating every Starfighter and bomber in their range without wasting any second. They all seemed unaffected by the EMP attack and were not going to waste this chance.

- ”Can we last 3 minutes?”- thought Ackbar watching the effectiveness of the enemy attacks.

In that moment, the First Order flagship turned on his direction and Ackbar could imagine the nasty grin in Hux's face as he ordered to open fire on them.

- ”They got us good...”- said Ackbar feeling like a practice target without any possibility of escape.